Prime Minister Stephen Harper greets Brian Mulroney at an event celebrating the former prime minister's environmental accomplishments in Ottawa on April 20, 2006.JONATHAN HAYWARD/The Canadian Press
Brian Mulroney wants an anniversary bash next month marking his 1984 election win to be both a celebration and a bit of a reconciliation for his beloved Conservative party.
In his first public comments since a rift erupted this spring, pitting him and his supporters against Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mr. Mulroney pleaded for party unity Wednesday.
"It's in the interest of all Conservatives - Progressive Conservatives and the latter-day group - to come together in support of common principles," Mr. Mulroney said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
"This is an evening of friendship, so everybody's welcome."
In a hint of that bridge-building, the Prime Minister's Office said late Wednesday that Laureen Harper would attend the event on behalf of her husband. But the Prime Minister is expected to miss it because of a two-day trip to the U.S. for a meeting with President Barack Obama.
"This is a great anniversary marking an historic election and the end of Trudeau-Turner Liberal rule," said Mr. Harper's spokesman, Dimitri Soudas.
Tensions stemmed from a government decision to call a public inquiry into Mr. Mulroney's business dealings with German lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber.
First, there was Mr. Harper's edict that members of his government not communicate directly with Mr. Mulroney while the inquiry was ongoing.
Then there were the clumsy attempts by senior members of Mr. Harper's team to suggest Mr. Mulroney no longer wanted to be a card-carrying Conservative.
That false assertion caused a first backlash within the normally disciplined Tory caucus, with Mulroney loyalists leaking details of closed-door meetings and angrily declaring that a line had been crossed.
Mr. Mulroney still casts a long shadow in the party, particularly in Quebec.
There, he is revered by many as the man who achieved the historic feat of bringing both nationalists and federalists into the Tory tent - something Mr. Harper has tried to repeat, with limited success.
Many Quebec Tories complain that Mr. Harper has put too much faith in organizers with the now-moribund Action Democratique du Quebec (ADQ). They say he has ignored at his peril former Mulroney hands and allies of Quebec Premier Jean Charest, who could help deliver seats.
When asked earlier Wednesday whether Mr. Harper would attend the Montreal gathering, Mr. Mulroney replied: "I have no idea what his plans are."
He said he understood prime ministers had busy schedules, and declined to discuss the personal chill between the men.
Mr. Mulroney did take thinly veiled jabs at Harper last spring - alluding to his ongoing struggles in Quebec - while testifying before the Oliphant inquiry.
In his interview Wednesday with The Canadian Press, Mr. Mulroney again stressed how successful his organization had been in Quebec.
"When I became leader [in 1983]we had one seat in Quebec," he recalled. "Our first election in 1984 we got 58 seats - and 50 per cent of the popular vote. Then in 1988 we got 63 seats of the 74 here. . .
"We had quite a following here and . . . we were able to do some things that people remember favourably."
But with the inquiry now over, and Mr. Schreiber deported to his native Germany, tensions appear to be easing.
Quebec MP Maxime Bernier, another fierce defender of Mr. Mulroney's, said he'll be attending the gala with his father Gilles Bernier, who served in the Mulroney government.
"Mr. Mulroney is a friend of my family," Mr. Bernier said in an e-mail.
Other former PCers, including Greg Thompson, Peter MacKay, Lawrence Cannon and Jim Prentice, are also likely to attend.
On the Canadian Alliance side of the Conservative family, an aide for Immigration Minister Jason Kenney refused to share details of the minister's private agenda. But he spoke glowingly of the upcoming affair.
"This will be a great anniversary," spokesman Alykhan Velshi said in an e-mail.
Mr. Mulroney said he's looking forward to celebrating the party's achievements and catching up with former colleagues, including some of his "old Liberal friends."
Among them will be Quebec Premier Jean Charest, who is hosting the gala along with former federal finance minister Michael Wilson, Canada's current ambassador to Washington.
A cabinet minister in Mr. Mulroney's government, Mr. Charest's decision to co-host the event has some speculating he might seek a return to federal politics, perhaps as Mr. Harper's eventual replacement.